Vikings
by fantasyfan1764
Summary: John or Johnno to his friends didn't like what his life had become, when his family had moved from Australia to America a few years ago they had assumed it would be to a better life. Oh, how wrong he was, they should have just stayed and then none of this would have happened. He thought back to how it all started. As his mind raced back to the beginning he watched Brockton Bay burn
1. Chapter 1

**_CHAPTER ONE_**

John or Johnno to his friends didn't like what his life had become, when his family had moved from Australia to America a few years ago they had assumed it would be to a better life, a better place, a safe place. Oh, how wrong he was, they should have just stayed and then none of this would have happened. He thought back to how it all started. As his mind raced back to the beginning he watched Brockton Bay burn around him as he stood alone on top of one of the few remaining larger buildings, his team mates dead, lost or deserted him.

Their city at that time Adelaide had recently been devastated by a massive fight between parahumans while the countries national super hero group was busy fighting an endbringer elsewhere. His family had moved to Brockton Bay as George, his father, had some distant family there, the Herbert's or something close to that name. He didn't get the chance to meet them though because shortly after they had moved to Brockton, the Docks where his dad had worked started laying off droves of workers and shutting down most operations. In one of the riots that followed the mass firing and downsizing they received news his father had been killed. Whom by though, nobody knew, all he knew was that at sixteen he was now expected to make money somehow as the loss of his father sent his mother Elene into an breakdown and now she could only do little but stay at home and drink to cope with her loss. Luckily he was an only child so he only had to care for his mum and himself.

At first it was hard for him, no one wanted an unskilled student worker, all the retail jobs were taken and hospitality jobs required training he could not afford. He managed to make the family's money last but soon it was not going to be enough, the bills were getting close to overdue and he was struggling at school from the pressure.

That all changed when an ABB gang member at school tried to jump him, he fought back and gave as good as he got, throwing wild punches and kicks. He had no formal training but knew if you fought back hard enough they would think twice about trying again later, even if they won. When the gang member saw John wasn't going down easy he started reaching into his pants to pull something out. A gun? A knife? In Winslow High you got used to the unexpected with the gangs, hell last week he saw an Empire eighty eight kid pull an cut down baseball bat out of his pants, no idea how he hid that all day.

However, just before the ABB kid could pull out whatever was in his pants he was crash tackled by a skinhead built like a brick shithouse. The teen with what seemed like more muscles than sense used the momentum to lay into the downed asian boy until he finally stopped trying to get up. By that time members from both gangs had arrived and were staring daggers at each other as both boys were dragged back to their respective groups and relative safety, the beaten ABB member was leaning heavily on another gang member but didn't appear seriously injured. Now though, they were just waiting for an excuse or the other side to make a move. John may have just been saved but in no way was happy, now he owed the skinheads… crap.

Just as it seemed a full on brawl was about to erupt the teachers and principal Blackwell finally arrived to break it up. No one was admonished or sent to the office as the school did not care as long as no one was seriously hurt ,or god forbid, killed.

When he had first started at Winslow the gangs had tried to recruit him, with his large build, height and the muscles from working on the land, he was scouted by the Skinheads, the Merchants and by a third group whose name he didn't recall. The ABB didn't even try (for obvious reasons), they just sneered and spouted racist comments about himself and Australia. Needless to say, he rejected all offers. He was not stupid, he knew if he accepted he would be branded as a gang member or associate of them, at the very least, for the rest of his life. So he made sure he did not accept anything from anyone that could count as a favour. Hell, anyone wearing gang colours were avoided as they would use said favour to leverage bigger favours later on. Now though, as he saw the large skinhead walk toward him, he suspected he was well and truly buggered.

As the two gangs split up to leave, John pulled himself together, squared his shoulders, brushed himself off and wiped away the blood. Hopefully he can talk his way out of this situation or at least into a smaller favour. After a very short chat he found himself with a set of instructions to meet up outside his house after school as it turned out that yes, they knew where he lived. Damnit, which explains why the house was so cheap, with it smack dab right in the middle of Empire territory as it was.


	2. Chapter 2

**_CHAPTER TWO_**

The rest of the school day went by relatively peaceful, thank fuck, with no one starting any fights with him or anything. He just did the classes, ate his lunch and made sure he didn't stand out. He cleaned himself up in bathroom after the fight so except for a few new rips in his clothing no one would be able to tell he was in that brawl earlier. Since the only witnesses were skinheads and ABB the others in his classes didn't try to talk to him about it as rumours had not seemed to have spread yet about who had been involved, only that a fight had occurred. When school finally finished he was just bloody glad that bastard of a day was over and he could head home.

The first thing he did as he walked through the front door, was to take a quick, hot shower, get changed into jeans and a hoodie and went down to the kitchen to fix himself and his mother a small meal. Putting her meal in the fridge he brought his out and started eating as he sat on the couch. Now as he relaxed on the couch next to his mother who was in her usual zombielike state, he found himself anxious, siting on the edge of the cushion. He didn't like the calm before the storm, would rather in fact get this whole thing over and done with.

It seemed fate agreed with him as he only had the time to replace his mother's drink and just get comfortable again before he heard a knock on the door, someone calling out his name as they did so. Sucking in a deep breath and releasing it slowly, he got up to see who was out front. On the way out as an afterthought he grabbed the billy club he had "found" recently, tucking it into the back of his jeans. Shouting out a goodbye to his mum, she grunted in response and reached for her beer, not seeming to care what was happening outside of the tv screen.

He made sure the club was fully secure just as he was opening the door as while he was pretty sure this was the Empire it never hurt to be a little bit paranoid in case another gang was out there or in case the Empire actually did attack him. Closing the door and making sure it was locked behind himm, he turned to see standing in the front yard four guys from school that were vaguely familiar and one older guy he didn't know but was being deferred to by the others. He looked to be in his mid-twenties and was attired in nazi symbols on his clothing along with the tattoos associated with the Empire as were the rest of them just in lesser amounts.

The leader grunted and gestured with his head towards John to follow along, so he did, making sure to stay a few steps behind them. He pulled the hoodie up to hide his face in case anyone would recognize him and think him part of the E88. Walking in silence as the group laughed and joked together up ahead, he did notice that while some of the jokes were funny most were downright crude and of course racist.

One of the younger guys he sorta knew from class broke off from the group and walked back to where John was following a short distance back.

"Hello John, I'm Mac"

He said as he extended his hand for John to shake

John grudgingly accepted his handshake while wondering if "Mac" was his real name but decided he didn't care enough to ask and if he did would the answer be the truth anyway.

"I saw the fight with that spic in school earlier"

Mac said with a grin

"You were a bit rough but nicely done. we were going to ignore it as you seemed to have it under control but when we saw him go for that knife, fukin' yellow coward, we decided to step in, big Steev just got there first out of us all"

"Thanks for that, but I could have handled it"

John says as he lied, against a knife he would have been in a lot a trouble but he didn't want to admit it.

"No need to thank us, after tonight it will all be squared" Mac replied

"So uh just tonight is it and then we are even?"

John asked nervously.

"Of course, fairs fair, unless you decide to keep hanging out and join us" he said

John didn't reply, he didn't know how to diplomatically decline so chose silence as his answer.

They walked in silence for a few more minutes until they came to an entrance to an alley with the leader gesturing for John and Mac to re-join them.

"Ok same deal as every night but since we got a newbie here I'll go over the plan for what usually happens. Right, Mac, you're the dealer, Pete's going to stand over there and handle the cash, Joe and Troy with be muscle, you two go and hang out a lil bit down the alley and keep an eye out."

Turning to John he adds as an afterthought

"Ah, the new guy, you head down with Joe and Troy, you can help them with backup in case any trouble starts but since we are so far in our territory it's unlikely. I'll just be watching from that car over there in case anything goes wrong"

He says as he starts walking to the car.

"Oh, and the names Darryl, don't fuck up and we'll have a nice quiet night, you hear?"

With that said the group split up, John didn't see where the "product" came from but suddenly Mac had enough to sell to dozens of druggies tonight or so his inexperience thought. He did not like being involved in selling drugs in any way shape or form but he rationalized that the drugs will be sold without him there anyway. To be frank he was just happy that they didn't want him to prove his worth with a violent hate crime of some sort.

So he did what he was told, he stood in the shadows and kept an eye out for anything, passing capes, shifty customers who might attack, the cops etc. It was turning out to be pretty uneventful actually, someone hands the cash to Pete, Mac gives them the drugs at the end of the alleyway with the two keeping separate, can't have the drugs and money together they said, more prison time if they got caught.

John stayed at his post until about twelve thirty am according to his watch and was starting to nod off, wondering if he could slip away unnoticed as he still had school tomorrow when a pickup truck arrived dropping off some more Empire members. They were taking over their roles so he guessed he'd be able to sleep soon he thought with relief, the money went to Darryl who drove off to deliver it to wherever it was supposed to go and the rest of the his group started to disband to go home. The second group took up the same spots and system quickly. As John was leaving he was tossed something by Mac, which turned out was a small wad of bills, looking to be over a hundred dollars easy there at a glance.

"That's your cut for tonight, you did a good job, consider the favour returned but if you want that much again tomorrow night talk to me at school and I'll see what I can do"

John wanted to say no straight away, he hated the empire and what it has done to the city but what they were doing tonight didn't seem too bad, it was just drugs and they would have been sold anyway without him. It wasn't like he bashing anyone for the being wrong colour or anything like that and also he really needed the money for the bills and maybe get a carer for his mother.

As he walked home in silence, fingering the money in his pocket as he trudged along tired, he debated with himself if he should tell them thanks but no thanks or tell them he will see them again tomorrow night. Once home it was all he could think about, even when he was undressing and in bed watching one of his favourite Earth Aleph shows. It was still on his mind until sleep finally overtook him at about two am


	3. Chapter 3

**_CHAPTER THREE_**

John awoke groggily to his alarm blaring, it was time to get ready for school, he was nowhere near rested enough for that hellhole, let alone rested enough to make a proper decision to tell Mac. He was absolutely knackered. He rolled out of bed and got dressed in a hurry. John made his mother and himself some breakfast, she was still sleeping but he placed her breakfast on a plate for when she woke up later. He was still dead tired so he grabbed an energy drink made by a cape, both called Brick, it was still illegal but only technically, it was safe but was stuck in courts by its non-cape competitors. John had been living off Brick since his father had passed. They were nearly pure adrenalin, he tried not to take more than one can a day just in case he became addicted like he had heard some serious drinkers had.

With can in hand he started walking to the bus, it was still early in the morning but lots of people were out, people travelling to work, cops doing patrols, kids walking to the bus stop etc. As he walked he sipped his drink slowly until he suddenly felt all the tiredness fade away like a bright light had been shined upon the darkness of his exhaustion. Once again he was not surprised it was called Brick because it hit you like well a Brick, one second you're tired next second you're wide awake and alert. He loved it. He sculled the rest of the can and threw it into the nearby bushes of the footpath.

He paused near the bus stop, he could see Mac and Pete with a group of other skinheads, they were laughing and drinking Brick, for a group of angry racists they sure looked happy often. He waited near another group of people, hood up, head down, he didn't want to be recognised yet and have to give an answer so soon. The bus arrived late as always, the Empire members got on first, pushing and jostling their way to the back. John got a seat in the middle, close to another group, he pulled out his phone and zoned out while reading FML posts, distracting himself and laughing softly until the bus arrived near the school.

The day was a slow one, every time he saw a skinhead he thought that was it but mostly they just ignored him, as usual. The ABB however were not ignoring him like every other day, they were glaring, sneering and carrying on at him all day. John didn't like the look of that, that is going to be trouble for him in the very near future. The ABB didn't try anything though, he didn't give them a chance to, he was always in a well crowded area, he was not going to be surprised again by them. That was only a short term plan though, what is he going to do outside of school, they are bound to catch him again, if he was with the Empire then the asian gang would mostly leave him alone, blood for blood doesn't usually work out well for gangs that tend to escalate things.

Finally, the school day was over, John grabbed his things and shoved them into his locker and was just leaving with the crowd to the bus when he was grabbed. Grabbed from behind tightly in a steel grip, he struggled but could not break free from it, the person grabbing him must be built like a bear. A Bear he thought or maybe a brick shithouse. He took a wild stab and called out behind him.

"Steev let me go man, come on you got me good"

The grip loosened and John was let go, he turned around to see Steev with a sheepish grin.

"Aww how'd you know it was me man"

"Because i don't know any other big ass mofos at this school besides you"

John said playfully.

Steev laughed, John was relieved, the big guy was just being friendly.

"Mac told me to walk you home, keep you safe from any of those spics in case they try anything, we saw how they looked at you today. Also Mac wanted to know if you have decided what you want to do yet. We sure could do with a solid looking guy like you, especially from such a WHITE country like Australia"

After Steev said that he pushed John along, getting them both walking to the bus as they talked.

"I ah have not decided yet, I need more time to think about this"

"What's to think about, you're white and you can handle yourself, join us. The pays great and we rarely fight other gangs, that is mostly left to the capes"

Steev made a good point, the money was a big issue to him, and he was already on payment plans with most of the bills. The one major issue he had was with the racism and hate crimes, John was not racist, back in Australia he had lots of aboriginal and asian friends and even a few non-white friends here.

By now they were on the bus seated near the back and John still hadn't replied yet.

"It's the "racism" isn't it John"

Steev was spot on but John was unsure how to answer.

"Look it is ok, it's hard to get away from such liberal media that makes you think we are "evil", how about you come out tonight again and if you don't like it you can go home any time you want, honest."

Money finally made the decision for him, if he made as much as he did last night he would only need to work tonight and he would be ok for another week or two.

"I'll do it, I will come out again but only if you promise I can leave whenever I want"

"Of course, promise"

Oh how naive John was.


	4. Chapter 4

**_CHAPTER FOUR_**

They soon arrived at the bus stop near Johns, Steev led the way and stopped just outside the yard of the property. Mac must have told him where he lives.

"Mac and the others will be back here in about an hour, be ready. Oh and be sure to bring that billy club again, you just might need it"

While Steev continued on his way to wherever he was going John was surprised, how the hell did he know about the club, he had kept the club in his pants all night. John walked into the house dropping off his school stuff in the lounge room and heading straight for a shower.

He undressed and got into the hot shower, letting the water wash away his troubles. Feeling the water cascade off his body was relaxing. It was working, he was just in the moment, no gang, school or money troubles in here, just hot water and the good music of Bliss N Eso an Aleph Australian rapper group. He wasted another ten minutes in the shower before turning it off and drying himself, time to get serious now.

One quick sandwich later he was ready for whatever the night was to bring. He had the billy club now outside of his pants hanging from his jeans but easy to unhook and use within a moment. John also had a small taser in his hoodie pocket, they may know about the club but no one knew about his taser. He had found it on the outskirts of a crime scene from an cape fight a few weeks ago, it was lying in the gutter, one of the protectorate must have dropped it. He had quickly pocketed it and did not take a look at it until he was safely back in his bedroom. It appeared normal from a glance but a deeper look clearly showed it was anything but normal, it was tinker made. John had not used it yet but he was sure it would pack a non-lethal punch if he ever needed it.

He sat on the couch watching the clock above the tv tick down to the time the Empire goons would arrive. He was fidgety, he was worried, he was anxious but as a teenager he was also excited, who knows what might happen. Nothing hopefully but what if there is a fight and some capes arrive, he could actually see one of the famed Protectorate.

After watching a repeat of an old eighties tv show he could hear people in the yard, he pulled back the curtain seeing the same guys as last time laughing and joking around. He saw Mac on his way to the front door. John said his goodbyes to his mum and left the house, locking up and meeting Mac about halfway to the door. The guys nodded in recognition to John and they were off, walking in same direction as last time, maybe to the same alley John was thinking.

He was right, they passed another group of heavily tattooed Empire eighty eight members as they were leaving the alley, the goods were transferred between the leaders and everyone took up the same positions as last time. John keeping watch from the shadows toying with his billy club and making sure it came off the cord smoothly each time he yanked on it.

The night progressed slowly, he thought he had seen Purity fly overhead earlier but it was so fast he was unsure. So far he was only needed once, a stereotypical crack head was starting to yell and draw attention, unlikely that the police would arrive any time soon but it was frankly annoying. Darryl gestured for John to come over and sort out the issue. So he stepped out from the shadows cracking the billy club against his palm, hard. He kept it up hitting his palm each time harder and louder as he walked slowly over. With his hood up and his face in shadows he must have looked quite menacing. It did the trick, it sent the annoying man scurrying out the alley.

Not for long though, that crack head was actually a Merchant scout, the Merchants wanted to do a raid on a number of Empire drug positions. After John had "scared him off" he had fished out his phone sending his scouting report back to his leader who then reported to his boss and so on.

In the Merchants headquarters Skidmark received that one scouts report along with dozens of others, he quickly gave the word to attack and then go into hiding after dropping off the drugs at Merchant safe houses. This would show Brockton bay that the Merchants were no joke, this would earn him respect from bloodying the nose of Kaiser. Skidmark was sick and tired of being the newbie gang, the gang that new capes practised against. This would earn him a spot at the big boys table if he pulled this off.


	5. Chapter 5

**_CHAPTER FIVE_**

After John had scared off the drugged up hobo things proceeded normally for the next half hour, but his earlier excitement was all but gone. He felt relieved though, with the money from tonight he could last another two weeks without the Empire's financial support and find a job. After hours of standing guard his legs were starting to cramp up, he leaned up against the alley wall and let himself slide down to a sitting position, although he made sure that he could still see Mac and the others clearly though.

John was fortunate to take that moment to relax as bullets started flying through the alley way. He saw Darryl take a bullet to gut and be dragged off to behind a dumpster by Pete and Troy. Mac and Joe were firing their nine mils back but we weren't hitting anything, it was too bright, the attackers had jammed a car into each end of the alley way and had headlights on full beam. John didn't have a gun, all he had was a billy club and a taser and those were all but useless in this fight as the attackers were keeping their distance and firing from cover. His heart was pounding and his mind was racing, who were they and why were they here, it took him a moment to realise of course because of the drugs. Why did he have to get involved with bloody drug dealing skinheads, he should have kept looking for work the honest way.

John tried to make himself as small as he could against the wall as he tried to think of how to survive the situation. To an outside observer he was just another gang member, easily killed and over looked by the protectorate and the police. Just another random no named gang member dead. So he had to get out of this quickly before the unknown assailants stopped randomly firing and decided to charge in or do something worse. The Brockton Bay gangs were known for being crazy.

The fight had been going on for an only a few minutes but each moment felt like a lifetime to him. John fumbled behind himself in the darkness trying to find anything useful or better yet a door to escape through. The search was fruitless, no door or window within nearby safety of the shadows, only a pipe that was sticky with what appeared to be blood, it had a longer reach than his billy club so he kept it close. Now armed with three weapons he felt a bit safer, he was sure he could take on an attacker in a one on one fight and over power them.

Joe, Pete, Mac, Troy and the leader Darryl had managed to gather together near the dumpster, they gestured for him to rush over and join them. That didn't seem like a smart plan. The others had all been near each other when shit had went down but John had been further away and with all these bullets flying he was not risking re-joining them. Unlike in movies these things tend to finish fast, so he knew whomever was attacking would need to attack soon before any Empire reinforcements or the police arrives.

Suddenly silence, the other gang had stopped firing and the skinheads stopped firing back to save ammo. The attackers had even turned off the cars headlights. Oh shit, he thought. This must be it.

His eyes still hadn't adjusted from the brightness of the headlights to the sudden darkness so he couldn't see what was happening but he could hear a few soft thuds, almost as if someone had thrown a cricket ball into the alley. John got the size right, it was roughly the size of a cricket ball but it was a smoke grenade. It started billowing out smoke, making his now adjusted eyes useless again and the smoke stung his lungs with every breath.

He coughed and hacked away as he tried to cover his mouth and nose, he struggled to take off his under shirt to cover his face. He could hear them rushing into the alley way, yelling and jeering. He also heard them dragging pipes and other weapons against the ground or the walls for effect, and it was working, he was scared. From the sound of it there were at least a dozen of them and only the six defenders, well five and one with a gunshot wound. He did not like grouping himself with the Empire but they weren't the ones trying to kill him at the moment so it was easy to brush over the racism until he was safe again. Funny how that stuff doesn't seem to matter when your life is on the line.

John readied himself, billy club was still easily accessible, taser was still working and the long pipe was in his hand. He didn't hear anymore gun shots though, he could understand why the attackers were not firing, in this smoke they could hit one of their own friends, but the Empire could fire and know that if anyone was hit odds were it wasn't one of them. He could see the shapes of the other gangs goons pass by his hiding spot, they hadn't noticed him, not yet anyway.

When one shadowy figure got within arm's reach of his hiding spot he reached out grabbing the thug and quickly tasered him into unconsciousness. Johns hand over his mouth stopped the resulting scream from getting out. One down, eleven left. He tried searching the man but didn't find anything useful, the goon didn't even have a face mask, just a bandanna over his mouth and nose.


	6. Chapter 6

**_CHAPTER SIX_**

Moments passed and John still hadn't heard anything from Mac and the others. Where were they? He heard another thud on the alley floor as another smoke grenade was thrown in. Even without his eyes he could remember where the others had been before, the dumpster they had been hiding behind was only a few metres away. If none of the attackers had proper gas masks he could probably get over to Mac and….. Well he didn't have a plan for then but it was better than staying still and hoping the other gang didn't find his hiding spot. He could hear them searching for the drugs and them.

He heard a scuffle as the drugs were found, from sound of it one of them had tried to pocket more than his share and had been beaten down by the rest of his searching group. Ok make that approximately ten guys left now. The sound of the scuffle had caught the attention of most of the thugs, so John took that moment to try to run across the alley to the dumpster. He misjudged the distance and ran headfirst into the quite thick metal of the dumpster. Luckily he was not heard but his head was throbbing. He edged around the dumpster whispering

"It's me guys, don't shoot or stab me, it's me, it's me, it's me, it's me!"

John didn't hear a response or anything from the dumpster area, he was getting a bit worried now about the guys. He kept edging until he nudged into something with his foot, he felt down slowly, it felt fleshy, it was a leg, he kept searching up the body until he found the stomach covered in blood. Damn, this must be the leader's body.

Darryl was dead.

This was his first dead body, he did not have time to worry about that though. Near the dumpster he could only find the body, nothing else, no Mac, no Pete, no Joe, nobody but himself.

He searched the body and found nothing but the leader's phone, he tucked it into his hoodie and tried to use it, maybe it had something useful on it. It wasn't locked so it was easy to get into the messages. He saw updates of the night's drug dealings and the frantic message of him getting shot and texting for help. The only reply the leader had received was a short text message.

"Leave the drugs and money if you must, but Mac must survive, everyone else is expendable"

The leader must have died shortly after that message. Now John was all alone with at least ten goons searching for him. He did not know how the others managed to get away, he felt around for a doorway or secret exit but found zilch. If a normal person had been in his situation they would have frozen and given into fear, but John was Australian, he'd been in situations where he had been working in unfamiliar lands, gotten lost, or motorbike died hundreds and hundreds of kilometres away from civilization and instead of worrying he knew he would survive. He had nothing to go on but he always knew he would, and he did, time after time. He could worry about the betrayal later and wonder why Mac is so important to the Empire.

Now he had two options, fight or hide. If he tried to hide eventually the thugs would leave, half hour at the most before an Empire counter attack could happen but half hour was a long time when hiding for your life, and all it takes is one bad moment and your found. The other option was to try to run and escape the smoke filled area and somehow make it home. If he could make it out the alley he was sure he could lose all foot pursuit.

He tucked Darryl's phone into his jeans pocket, now it was his. If he was going to get anything out of tonight he at least wanted a phone for himself. The goons were getting restless, they wanted to leave already but their leader there wasn't allowing them to go until they found the drug dealers and beat information out of them. The search was getting a bit more organised. John heard the exclamation of surprise as they found the knocked out man, apparently his name was Rufus.

Damn, he should have hidden the body better. They were looking faster and getting closer to him, they were searching from end of alley ways inward, at least five on each side working towards centre. They were going to find him, he knew it. He had to take his chances, he had to run and fight his way out.


	7. Chapter 7

**_CHAPTER SEVEN_**

The smoke finally dissipated enough to see more than just shadow figures, so John took aim and threw the pipe at the furthest group. It hit one of them in the legs and caused another to trip up over the first guy.

"Someone is here, FIND THEM!" One of the unhurt men yelled out, most likely their leader.

John got up and ran as fast as he could towards the closest alleyway exit. He shoulder bumped one thug to the ground on the way past, clubbed another one in the head and was halfway to escape when one of the few remaining goons got lucky with a wild haymaker, hitting John right below the neck, winding him and knocking him to the ground. John knew how to fight, but he didn't have time to properly fight anyone, he was in a rush to get out quickly.

The remaining gang members were running over to where he was now, except for two guarding the exits. Smart, they must have a good leader whoever that is. John tried to force himself up but was met with a savage kick to his chin, the world started spinning and he went face first onto the ground. He fumbled for his taser before more goons would arrive and start beating him too. John managed to get it out of his hoodie pocket and tasered the guy who kicked him just as he was about to deliver another savage attack. He got the guy on the leg sending him down fast howling, clutching at his damaged limb.

The world was still spinning and his vision was terrible at the moment, he could see lights in the distance so he tried to get to his knees and crawl towards them. He only got a few feet before he was sprawled onto the ground again. Damn. The others had made it over to him. They kicked him a few times before he stopped struggling so much. They stripped him of his weapons and pulled him to his feet until he was face to face with the apparent leader of the attacking group.

The leader looked to be on the wrong side of thirty, he had a big beer gut and a wildly unkempt beard, and he stunk of unwashed bodies and alcohol. He would have doubted this guy was the leader except that he had the largest armful of different coloured bands. Arm bands, of course, it's the bloody Merchants. What the hell are they doing so deep in Empire territory?

The leader cut of John's train of thought and started questioning him

"I'm Liam, you nazi fucker, now let's make this quick easy and relatively painless. Where are the drugs?"

John spat some blood onto the leaders boot.

"You already have the drugs you dumb fuck"

Liam didn't say anything but gestured with his hand, the men kicked him a few more times, knocking him back to the ground, this time when they were done they only raised him to his knees. The leader grabbed Johns head forcing him to look up into his eyes.

"Where are the other drugs, you fool, the warehouses, and the re up locations?"

"I don't know, I'm new and even if I knew I wouldn't tell you drug riddled bastards!"

Liam only smiled at John's words.

"They all say the same things, but eventually they break and tell me everything."

The Merchant leader pointed at one of his arm bands, a piece of cloth that appeared red, from the look of it, blood red. It must have been soaked in blood at one point, he could see dried hardened clumps of blood on it.

"This is the Torture arm band, I personally got it from Skidmark, and only five people in the Merchants have ever received this honoured arm band. So you will talk. Now either tell me everything I want to know now and my guys can knock you out and you can go back to being Kaisers little bitch or… you keep resisting and we take you back to our turf to do some more intense questioning"

Liam seemed to smile more whenever he mentioned torture or intense questioning.

John was scared, he knew nothing, he barely even knew any of the guys in the little group he had been with. Maybe he could try and lie and hope they leave him to check it out. The Phone, he could give them Darryl's phone, but was that smart? If he produced the phone after saying he didn't know anything they might assume he was hiding more information. Also, if he survived this and word got out that he gave up anything on the Empire, regardless of how little or unimportant the information was, then who knows what Kaiser and his boys would do to him.

Kaiser seemed more a problem for future John to worry about though, present John had to worry about Liam and his thugs. Let future John worry about Kaiser, better to be alive and deal with those problems when they arise, then be killed by Merchants right now. Wait…, his Mum, the Empire might do something to her if they think he cooperated. SHIT. With that thought he made up his mind on what to do.

Liam was tapping his foot impatiently. "Done thinking yet, you Nazi scum?"

John rose up pushing away at the thugs who were holding him to his knees, they looked at Liam but he gave no orders so they spread out around him. John was now standing up to his full height.

"Yes, I have decided"

 **AN:**

Thanks again to Zulaq for being my beta.


	8. Chapter 8

**_CHAPTER EIGHT._**

Liam looked at his watch, clearly impatient.

"Well speak up then boy, tell me everything then lie down and accept your beating." Liam spoke in a condescending tone of voice while absentmindedly checking his fingernails for dirt. He gave off the vibe that John was barely worth his time and effort. This obviously was not his first rodeo.

John had decided not to give the Merchants any information and stall them for as long as he could. If he kept Liam here until the Empire or police got close enough he would be safe, in theory anyway. From the first bullet that went flying to now he guessed it had only been five to ten minutes at most, it was hard to say, time seemed to slow down when things were happening. Damn Einstein's theory of relativity. If he managed to stall Liam until help arrived then his mum and himself would be ok and all of this would have just been a big nightmare.

He didn't know the response time of the police, but the Empire would most likely arrive first. They had to respond fast when another gang attacked them, especially so deep in their territory. Even more so on this occasion when the attacking gang was the laughing stock of the Brockton underbelly. If their retaliatory attack wasn't swift and harsh then the other gangs would smell weakness like sharks with bloody water, and the Empire would soon be under siege from the ABB, Coil and whoever else had a beef with them.

He must have taken too long to reply because Liam gestured again and one of the thugs punched John again to prompt him to spill the beans. John had been expecting this and now that the smoke had cleared and his head stopped ringing he could see clearly. He used a basic self-defensive move to avoid the punch and laid out the thug with a well-aimed right hook to the jaw. Nine thugs left now. Liam just smiled and gestured again. This time two of them came in from different directions, luckily neither were armed. One had an ugly mullet and the other a grotesque scar across his face, from chin to eye.

These two appeared more wary, but not very smart, as they decided to bum rush him at the same time. John stepped forward towards mullet man and tripped him up, sending him sprawling. Turning sharply around, he just dodged scar face's wild swing. Bouncing on his feet John fired off three punches in rapid succession into the scar faced goons' chest sending him to his knees. John proceeded to knock him out with a solid knee to the forehead. Mullet man was just getting up when John grabbed him by his greasy unkempt hair and knocked him headfirst into the ground where he stayed down. Now down to seven guys. John had just bought himself another two or three minutes from those two little fights.

John assumed a fighting position again expecting more trouble. There were only four goons and Liam near him now with the other two guarding the exits. He didn't have much left in him. Truthfully, without all the adrenaline coursing through him he would have been exhausted by now. His whole body hurt. He really hoped backup would arrive soon, he hoped Mac and the others were coming back for him.

The thugs didn't make a move except to pull the three injured away. Not for any caring reason, simply because they were in the way.

"That's enough of that boy, now either talk or you get shot. Frankly, you're boring me and I don't even care enough anymore to take you back and torture you, so talk or eat a bullet."

"I will never talk! I may not like the Empire, but at this moment I fucking hate you guys more."

Without replying or changing his expression Liam pulled his nine millimetre pistol from his pants and shot John.

It Hurt.

A LOT.

Liam had aimed for his right shoulder, a flesh wound, he knew just where to shoot for pain, not death. John gritted his teeth and tried to keep standing, the shot had knocked him back a few steps from the sudden impact but he stepped forward back to his previous spot. He held his hand against the wound trying to staunch the flow of flow and keep pressure on it.

"There, has that loosened your tongue, child?"

For his first bullet wound, John was handling it surprisingly well, mostly because the shock had lessened the pain enough for him to still be lucid. But he didn't think he could take a second shot as well as he had taken the first, but he had no choice. He had to look out for his mum. If, god forbid, John died in this alley he was sure Mac or the Empire would look after his mum.

"Fuck you and the fucking drugs, I'm not saying shit. You just wait until Kaiser gets here."

With a sigh Liam raised the pistol and shot John again, this time shooting him in the right leg. Another flesh wound. The shock was fading now and John was in excruciating pain. He collapsed onto his left side, the fall shaking his body.

"I'm bored of this, I'm taking the drugs we found here and going back to base. If he talks call me, if he doesn't then do whatever you want. Bash him, kill him, whatever. Just hurry up, we don't have long before the Empire launches their counter attack."

With that said, Liam sauntered off to one of the cars they had arrived in and sped off. John didn't care about any of that though, he was barely conscious.

The goons waited for Liam to get into his car before they brutally laid into John, kicking and punching his battered body. They didn't care about the information, let the other groups attacking the Empire figure that stuff out was their thoughts.

The pain was too much for John to handle. Where was his help, where the guys, where was the Empire, the police, the fucking capes who are sworn to protect the city and its inhabitants, anyone?! Why was he alone dying in an alley for a gang he didn't even like? As he lay there getting the beating of his life, unable to resist even a little he thought he had a vision of two beautiful cosmic beings circling around each other. Just before John passed into unconsciousness he thought he heard exclamations of surprise and then cries of pain. Someone must have arrived. Someone must have come to help him.

Above John's body a human sized purple swirling portal had opened and out stepped a thing of legends. The portal closed once the thing had exited. The being swiftly and efficiently killed the four goons around John. It was about to pick up its master when the two remaining thugs tried shooting it. The being deflected the bullets casually and returned fire with projectiles of its own, piercing their chests, killing them instantaneously. It then walked up and down the alley checking for more danger and killing the knocked out Merchants it encountered before walking back to its summoner, John.

It bent down to pick up John and carry him away when it heard the cars. It gracefully put John back down and backed away into the shadows. Once it saw the runic nazi symbols on the uniforms it relaxed and dropped its defensive posture. It stood there silently as the newly arrived Empire members took in the battle scene. They didn't know what had happened, but there were at least six dead Merchants and two other bodies, two of them with strange things in their chests. Mac rushed forward and quickly identified the body of Darryl and was about to identify John's apparent lifeless body when he saw John wasn't dead. Mac and the others then carried away the lifeless body of Darryl and John's comatose body.

Once the being saw its master was in the hands of allies another portal opened near it and the being from myth disappeared without anyone noticing.


	9. Chapter 9

**_CHAPTER NINE_**

Director Piggot read the daily report, it was mostly on the escalation of violence between the Merchants and the Empire. Since that night in November the Empire had been expanding aggressively into Merchants lands while other gangs had less violently been expanding into Merchant territory also. The Merchants were now down to only a few blocks and had lost any of their remaining credibility. So far the fighting had been mostly kept out of the publics view and there were no reported civilian casualties or injuries. Not saying that there wouldn't be, but just none reported. So she was letting them fight amongst themselves, what does she care about dead gangbangers. Piggot knew soon she would get a report of either the Merchants destruction or their running out of town. She felt indifferent, she just marked down her thoughts on the matter before setting it aside to be passed up to higher command later.

She was a bit frustrated as she finished the report and yet again there was nothing about that cape that had killed those Merchant gang members in that ill-fated alley attack. The way they had been killed showed expertise, killing like that meant lots of practice but there were no PRT reports on any capes who used bladed weapons like that, it was puzzling, all she could do was alert her agents about the possible chance of a new cape in the city. Whether they were cape or rogue was yet to be figured out.

Kaiser was also frustrated, since that night in November he had his men search for the new cape but with no luck. Why had it killed those Merchants? Did it have a vendetta against one of the men in that small attacking group? Was it defending that boy as he was the only Empire member there versus a dozen Merchant goons? Would the cape have defended a lone Merchant against a dozen of his men? Was he an Empire follower? Kaiser didn't like not knowing, it irritated him to no end, and he could always use another cape who had no qualms about killing. He will not let this matter go.

John awoke suddenly, bolting upright gasping for breath.

Where was he?

Was he safe?

How was he alive?

Had that whole event in the alley been a nightmare and was he safe and sound in his house?

His eyes weren't opening though, they felt sticky, almost as if they were sealed shut by sleep. He started panicking but within a moment he was able to open his eyes, everything was blurry at first but after blinking a dozen times the room appeared clearer and after a few more blinks the room was crystal clear. First thing he noticed was that he was hooked up to a heart monitor. Ok, not safe and sound at home and that whole terrible experience must have happened, if he wasn't at home then where was he? Bigger question would be what had happened to the goons that had been beating him, he thought he had heard help arrive but he didn't trust his memory.

He appeared to be in a hospital room, white hospital sheets, white bed, white walls, medical equipment etc. It didn't sound like he was in a hospital though, it was too quiet. Now that he thought of it he couldn't hear anything outside the room. John had a second look around the chamber, no windows to show where he was but the medical equipment seemed to have something written on it, Med something. He grabbed the cord to the heart monitor and pulled the machine closer so he could have a better look. Medhall Corporation it had listed on it.

John had heard of them, they were a big corporation. Why was he there though, he didn't have insurance and wasn't from money? More importantly how long had he been out for? His body felt much better though, he moved his shoulder slowly, no pain there just a bit of stiffness, same with his leg and there appeared to be no bruises on him. So he must have been there for a while, but had it been days, weeks, months or god forbid years?

It had been November 23rd last time he checked. He really hoped he had not been out for long. He didn't have a mirror so he checked his face with his hands, everything seemed the same as far as he could tell, no wrinkles or big beard to indicate how long he had been there for. John didn't want to get out of bed in case something bad happened plus he was still hooked up the heart monitor and um other things he didn't want to think about cough, cough catheter. He was about to call out for help when he saw another cord leading from the wall to the side of the bed, it had a red button on it, hopefully it called for a nurse or a doctor. Maybe the Empire had paid for him to be looked after but why would they do that?

He laid back down suddenly feeling weak. While he waited he casually checked out the room again, it was pretty spacious, it seemed like the private room of a rich patient. There also was a very nice HD tv as well, he found the remote on the bedside counter, he was about to turn it on when the door opened and a tall blonde haired male doctor came in.

 **AN:** Sorry for late reply, lost my focus for a while.

Comments appreciated.

Also do you think a Worm tv show or movie would be better?


	10. Chapter 10

**_CHAPTER TEN_**

"Hi, I'm Doctor Brown, good to see your awake Mr. Erikson, how are you feeling?"

"I feel fine doc, just a bit stiff, but I have some questions."

John was happy to finally be able to figure out what was happening.

"That's to be expected, what would you like to know?"

"Firstly where am I?"

"You're in one of the Medhall Corporations finest facilities in Brockton, location can't be disclosed though, sorry"

While the doctor answered the questions he was checking the equipment and the most recent chart at the end of the bed.

"ok? Why am I here though doc?"

"Mr. Erikson you were brought in with two bullet wounds, numerous broken bones, internal bleeding and had lapsed into a coma. We didn't want to awaken you for fear of shocking your system, it's better to let your body wake up naturally. Are you suffering from memory loss?"

Oh god, a coma, how long was I out for he thought. More importantly where was he exactly and why was he there.

"No. I meant, why am I at this secret facility instead of the general Brockton hospital?"

"I do not know, I am not privy to that information Mr. Erikson, here we take privacy very seriously, but you have had a Mr. Mac visit you several times"

"Several times? How long have I been in a coma?"

As the question slipped past his lips he waited anxiously for the answer, please only be days he prayed.

Doctor Brown had a quick look at Johns chart. Then sighed and his face went dark.

"I'm sorry to inform you but it has been months, it's now February 4th."

John was shocked. Lucky he was already in bed or he would have needed to lie down and rest from that stunning revelation. Was his mum ok? Did he still have a home? Was anyone paying the bills that surely must be over due by now?

"Any other questions Mr. Erikson or may I send in the people waiting outside? They were called when we realised you had awoken"

John had no idea who would be waiting for him, he had no true friends in Brockton Bay. He knew though whoever came in would be able to answer a few more personal questions though.

"No more questions doc, thanks for all your help, please send them in"

Doctor Brown bid him goodbye, a swift recovery and assured him nurses would be in shortly to unhook him and show him around the facility.

As the doctor left two people walked in, one he recognised immediately, the other he didn't. The first one was Mac, dressed in a smart suit and the other was clearly an Empire thug, tattooed to the nines with their symbols and propaganda.

"Good to see you're finally awake John, the boys and I were starting to get worried you wouldn't come out of it. Oh and this here is Max, don't mind him, you can say whatever you want with him around, he will never repeat what we say"

Mac actually did look a little worried as he said that. I guess John did sort of have a friend after all. He was relieved, the Empire goon did look like the strong silent type as well.

"Yeah I'm feeling great, except for a bit of stiffness in some spots, I am a bit confused though"

"Oh? What about?"

"That night where did you and everyone go?"

Macs smile faded fast.

"Oh…, that was an unpleasant night, certainly for you. In the chaos and the smoke we managed to get out. Turns out Darryl was paranoid and had a secret rope ladder leading up the alley wall in case he ever needed it to escape. He only told me in his dying moments, we tried to get you to run over and join us but we couldn't wait and had to go. When we climbed up we pulled the ladder up after us, didn't want them to follow up afterwards. The boys and I really didn't want to leave you behind John but we had to warn Kaiser"

John was angry but not too angry as he knew if it was him he would have left as well. Damn his logical mind. John decided to drop that line of questioning and move onto next query.

Before John could ask his next one Mac cut him off and asked

"John what happened that night, we need to know?"

John told him everything he remembered, about Liam, the fighting and his eventual passing out.

"Good to know you went down fighting but are you sure you didn't kill anyone?"

"Kill anyone? I only knocked them out and that was hard enough"

That answer didn't seem to make Mac happy.

"John when we got there we found eleven Merchant bodies, Darryl's body and your badly beaten and comatose self. Are you sure you didn't see or hear anything, perhaps a cape or something? They appear to have all died by swordlike wounds and two by arrows, except the arrows were nothing we have seen before, we are thinking tinker made"

John was beyond surprised, how the hell did they die, he sure as hell didn't kill them. Did he? NO. Of course he didn't, his memory may be hazy, but he wasn't a murderer.

"I didn't see or hear anything, I swear. All I remember is passing out and waking up a little while ago to find its months later, now please tell me Mac that my mum is ok and safe"

"You're mother? Oh, yea she is fine, we sent Zara, a carer to your house straight after that night."

That relieved him immensely, he had been worrying about her.

"A carer? That sounds expensive."

"Trust us, Zara is worth it and you can afford it now."

"How can I possibly afford it?"

"You've been on the Empire payroll since that night, you have quite a bit saved up now."

John was incredulous.

"But, but, but… Why? Why am I being paid? And I surely can't have been paid enough to afford this swanky hospital room."

"Well when Darryl died Kaiser allowed me to take over Darryl's old duties and I got to choose my own men, so I chose you, Steev and a few other guys I trust. All guys that have been with me and have no connections so I won't have spies or possible traitors later, the Empire isn't as unified as people think. I chose you because you're new, I have liked what I have seen so far of you and with you by my side I'm sure something interesting might happen. The hospital was also paid for by Kaiser. Here's a secret not many know, the Empire owns Medhall Corporation."

John was amazed, how the hell did the Empire manage to buy one of the biggest and best companies in Brockton Bay and no one noticed.

"Ok, so the Empire owns this hospital but why am I being looked after here for free? I mean I'm new and no way could the Empire look after every injured member using Medhall facilities without someone finally cluing in."

"Well I pulled a few strings and got you this private room."

"You? How do you have power in the Empire?"

For dramatic effect Mac leaned in close to John's ear and whispered.

"Here is a bigger secret, I'm actually Kaiser's nephew."

To say John was shocked was an understatement.


	11. Chapter 11

**_CHAPTER ELEVEN_**

"YOU'RE KAISER'S NEPHEW?!"

John shouted before looking guilty, oops he had just yelled out a huge secret.

Mac just smiled. No worry evident on his face.

"You're lucky these rooms are soundproofed or else everybody on this floor would now know that and that would not be fortunate. Yes I am his nephew, Kaiser's father the All Father had a few indiscretions with a few of his more zealous female followers and out of those indiscretions children, I'm one of the few that reached an age and skill to be useful to the cause."

No wonder he couldn't hear anything outside the room, they were all soundproofed.

"Wait, what do you mean helpful to the cause? What makes you more useful than your siblings or cousins?"

"Good, you picked up on that. Well I can do this"

As he was speaking he held his hand out palm upward and John couldn't believe his eyes. In the centre of Mac's palm a ball of metal was growing, once it was size of a ball bearing it rose above his hand and another grew and then rose up as well, it continued like that until five of them were floating above his hands, circling each other, it was almost hypnotic.

As Mac was showing him his abilities Max stood there motion and expressionless, obviously this wasn't the first time he had seen the use of these powers. Did Max perhaps have a power and that is why he is so uncaring towards the display?

"That's amazing Mac, what can you do with them?"

"Not too much at the moment but I can make them float around me and they are very hard to destroy but I must concentrate or they fade into nothingness. I can make about ten little ones so far but that's better than the two I could only make when I triggered. Kaiser thinks with some training I could use them as a shield and a weapon, just imagine what you could do with that."

When Mac was talking about that he a sort of crazed look in his eye. A scary intensive gaze.

"Um Mac, you said I have money, has any of that gone towards the household bills?"

"The bills? I don't know about them sorry, I just arranged the money. Zara is the one looking after your finances and household at the moment, she is experienced in these matters so whatever bills you had she has most likely handled with ease. She probably even had a few of the bills lowered and got you better rates, she was recruited from an Ivy League college and knows the system. I have to be somewhere in a minute so I have to go but don't you worry, just rest up in bed for a few days and we will have you released and after few more days home rest I will give you a call, I see you took Darryl's phone, that's ok, you can keep it"

With a dismissive wave the balls disappeared. He gave John a friendly smile, a shoulder pat and then Mac and his apparent bodyguard were leaving.

John said a quiet goodbye, not sure if he was even heard. He was lying back into the bed, going over everything that was said. All his problems from before were gone, money was now ok, bills gone, mum has a carer but now he is involved with Kaisers secret nephew. This could end badly. Wait, did that mean he would have to be involved in more than just drugs now, would he be more involved in the gang now, would he have to fight and wear colours?.

These questions seemed easier to think about then about the strange saviour. He didn't want to think about the stranger though, why was he saved by him? Why so late? Why wasn't he saved before knocked out? PRT Capes don't kill so does it mean a rogue saved him or maybe was another gangs cape attacking the distracted Merchants and he was just luckily there, maybe he would have been killed as well if had been awake? These questions led nowhere, better to focus on himself and the predicament he is in.

While John was lying in bed deep in thought something was watching him, yes there were cameras watching him, noticeable ones and the ones you would need tinker tech to find but it wasn't those, the camera monitors were currently unattended to give their meeting privacy and the attendants would not be back just yet. Something else was watching, the mysterious saviour was observing him right now.

Not through a window, there were no windows in such a secret facility, it was watching him though a portal, a tiny portal hidden away, undetected by the cameras and everyone else, the being had been watching him ever since he had been admitted. It didn't need sleep, food, water or any kid of rest. It just watched, always alert, always ready to strike through at whatever threat that might appear. His master must stay safe.

Everything was a threat, non-capes not as much though, the saviour, mostly ignored the doctors and nurses at work. When Mac had shown his ability he did not know that he had an arrow aimed at his heart, ready to release if he showed any maliciousness towards John. Max would have been no help as a second after the first arrow was fired a second would have already been let loose.

It kept watch over the next few days as the nurses and doctors poked and prodded John and showed him around the less secret areas of the facility. It didn't know where it came from, all it knew was John his master was the reason he was brought forth to this foreign place and he had a mental link to him, he learnt the basics of this world from John as he slept, language, geography, history, family tree etc.

The warrior thought the mental connection was one way but he was wrong, as he didn't know John from before his summoning he failed to notice now that John strode with shoulders straight, with a warriors gait, the being believed that was just how his master had always been. While John has slept he had unconsciously been learning from the warriors mind.


	12. Chapter 12

**_Chapter Twelve_**

John was happy to be released, to get out of that medical prison, he could finally stretch his legs. He didn't know why but ever since he had awoken he had been fidgety, he wanted to exercise, and he wanted to run. He wasn't usually into exercise, he just played the sports at school required him too and that's about it. He got a taxi straight home, when he got went inside he barely looked around, just saw his mum phased out in front of the lounge room tv with Zara, a professional looking woman in a nurses outfit, much like the ones he had seen everywhere at the Medhall facility. She gave him a kind smile as he rushed by.

He walked straight to his room, changed into some trackies and a hoodie then was out the door within minutes of coming home. He did some stretches that he remembered from class and some light running on the spot to get the blood flowing before setting out on a brisk jog around the neighbourhood. He was enjoying himself, it was good to be able to run, the treadmills at the facility had been decent but they lacked the visuals of running around.

Before he knew it he was back at the alley, it was daytime but he could see Empire members in their spots, still dealing drugs. Even though it was bright out and anyone walking by could see they were still selling, because no matter the time people wanted drugs and the Empire was more than willing to supply them for a very healthy profit. No walker by would say anything, this was Empire turf, you didn't see anything, you didn't hear anything and that's how you survive. Nosey Nellies were few and far between in Brockton.

John thought he recognised one of the guys but wasn't sure. Even with is hood up he was apparently recognised by them though, they waved as he continued jogging again. As he left he could hear more than a few of them whispering

"…..yea that's the guy…"

"…..can't believe he survived that"

"….heard he died"

"….I heard he killed them all himself…."

"…. I heard he now works directly for Kaiser as a personal hitman…"

"….Heard Shadow Stalker took the credit for the kills…."

None of that interested John, there will always be rumours, although that last one had some merit to it. He might be new to this town but he knew about her, she had such a prim and proper Boy Scout reputation with the PRT but he heard from around school that when she was a rogue she killed more than a few people and her weapon of choice were bows/crossbows. Wouldn't be a stretch to think she did it, kill some Merchants that no one cares about and use a sword on a few to throw people off.

If it was just her killing then he was nothing special and had no further cause to worry about his supposed saviour. John didn't know but the PRT had already questioned Shadow Stalker, even though she had been on a mission elsewhere she could have slipped away and done the massacre but witnesses and thugs in jail verified that she was elsewhere doing her job.

John kept up his leisurely jog through the nearby neighbourhoods, not knowing he had been followed by both a PRT cape and Empire goons. Piggot and Kaiser wanted to see what this kid had, maybe he was a cape and had killed them all before passing out or maybe something else. The PRT were going to just keep tabs on him from afar but Kaiser was a man of action, he had ordered some of his boys to initiate John, give him a thrashing as a hazing ritual to welcome him after such a long hospital rest. Actually make that three groups, the PRT cape, the Empire goons and his Saviour. It kept an eye on the cape that was the real threat, the goons on the other hand were cannon fodder, more brawn than brains. His master should not be bothered by them.

The ambush site was of course another alley way, as John was jogging by it he was grabbed from behind. Usually that would stopped anyone but John still had his momentum from jogging so let himself fall forward and slipped the grip, he fell toward into a roll and coming up with fists raised, squaring his body into a more stable position. He looked around noticing the five heavily tattooed Empire members. All of them looked fit, none under twenty and none over twenty five. Wouldn't be too far wrong to say they were professional boxers. He cursed himself for not bringing the taser and billy club. He had seen them nicely wrapped up on his bed with a note from Mac but he was in such a rush to get out and do some running he left them behind.

"Guys there must be a mistake, I'm one of you guys, and I'm part of Mac's crew"

The largest one with Heil Kaiser tattooed on his forehead stepped forward.

"I'm Bruce and we don't care about which crew you're from, you're new and we love to initiate the new ones with a beating, if you win, good for you, most don't. I see you still have your hospital wrist band, better keep that on boy, gonna need it again real soon"

As he talked his boys surrounded John, cutting off his escape. The PRT cape watched from afar, they were told not to intervene unless another cape was involved. The summoned being watched, his master will surely show these peasants their place beneath him.

With a yell they attacked, what followed next was an surprisingly one sided battle, John didn't know how but he was winning, he just seemed to know how to defend and attack, he was throwing them around, using their momentum against them, grappling them, kicking, at one point even choked a thug and he seemed to know the right spots to hit to cause most pain. Soon it was only him and the leader, the tattooed boss Bruce.

"Oooh your good, I like that, I like the ones that fight to the end"

John stayed silent, just hoping that whatever technique he was using was still there or else he would lose, this guy was much better than all those useless druggies he had attacked months ago, if he had his old style he would have lost. Maybe have taken a guy or two with him but without a doubt he would have gotten that beating.

Bruce charged at him, swinging a wild haymaker, John ducked underneath used momentum to throw him over his shoulder and onto the ground slamming Bruce painfully onto the ground. John didn't let him up, he grappled and hit until ol Bruce stopped fighting back. Unlike last time, the only one knocked out was the boss, the others were just injured and not too badly, just enough to get them out of the fight. John brushed himself off and walked away as if most natural thing in the world, once reaching end of alley way he started his jog back to his house.

The PRT cape was astonished that such a young man could win against such trained fighters, usually in Brockton Bay that would mean he had to be a cape but he hadn't done anything that was beyond human, just some martial arts that they didn't recognise.

The observer viewed the fight through the portal and was pleased to see his master knew Lausatök, good old blood flowed through his leaders veins. He must have a very good teacher he thought. Not knowing that he himself was the teacher that was his fighting technique he had just seen, in the mental transfer John had picked that up.


	13. Chapter 13

**_Chapter Thirteen_**

The rest of John's jog had been uneventful and he was back home within an hour of the brawl. He wasn't sore, he wasn't bruised, and he wasn't even tired from the long jog. It was strange, had his endurance also increased somehow, had it also gotten better just like he had also gained a martial art style he did not recognise.

Did he have a power now, was he a cape?!

Time to run some tests he thought. He went to his room and got his weights out that he used to do every now and then. John did a few reps with the 5 kilo dumbbells, easy as usual, 10 kilos, easy as well, 15 kilos, no worries, 20, 25, 30, 35 pretty easy as well. John didn't have 40 kilo or more dumbbells. That's more then he could usually lift but not more than human standard. More tests are needed.

Throughout the day John tried to test to see if he had different powers, jumped off the roof, couldn't fly, lucky he rolled on impact and didn't hurt himself. Couldn't hear people's thoughts, turn invisible, run fast, punch through cement, or anything else he could think of. He is still stronger and has more stamina then he remembers having before the coma and the strange fighting technique he used but that's all within human limits, definitely not enough to even consider registering as a cape or a rogue or such. Best to carry on as if he was normal even though it seems he isn't, if he had powers they seem minimal.

-

The next few weeks flew by pretty fast. John spent a few nights a week with the boys guarding them as they did their dealings, with the Merchants taken care of things were mostly peaceful on the gang front of Brockton. He was not rolling in cash but he was making more than enough to pay bills on time and look after his ailing mother. His first day back at school he saw the school notice board with listings of the schools official clubs, one of them caught his eye more than the others, the Sailing Club. He immediately joined it.

He was now one of the best sailors in Brockton Bay, turns out he was a natural; Mac had even bought him a little boat and painted it up like a Viking longboat. Mac and the others of their little group all joined the club as well; the Empire had taken an interest in the little club and used Mac as the proxy to lead it, any reason to show white superiority. John didn't know why he was so good at sailing but he guessed it had something to do with him not being normal anymore.

He was also acing his foreign language class as well, his language choice was Norwegian and he was getting solid A's for it. Another perk of not being normal anymore it seems. Sailing, Norwegian, Scandinavian fighting style, he was starting to see a pattern, was his power related to Viking subjects. As more skills and traits started appearing he was now convinced he had a power.

He had still seen nothing of his supposed saviour. Now he knew he had powers maybe there wasn't even a saviour, maybe it had something to do with him getting powers, and he had read on para-human forum that when you get powers things can get violent. Maybe all those dead were his direct fault. No use crying about spoilt milk though, especially when the milk in question is drug riddled Merchants who had beat the shit out of him.

It was weird to say that now he had the boys he was happier, they rarely said anything racist or did anything over the top that could be attributed to race, sure they got in fights with ABB at school but that was more because they were an enemy gang, not because they were Asian. He had feeling it was more about brotherhood for Mac and the others in his little group then any high calling to purge the unclean races as some of the more extreme members like to say. John was surprised he got along with them so decently.

-

John was sleeping well until he was awoken suddenly to a loud noise, he thought he heard someone trying to break in, he barged downstairs barely dressed holding his billy club and a crude shield he had made in wood shop, mostly wood with a metal backing. He made a lot of noise as he crashed down the stairs. He checked the front door, still bolted; he turned for the back door creeping more silently, now that he is thinking straighter, best to not let any possible burglar or gang attacker know his position in the house.

He creeped towards the back door, he could now hear wind blowing in the house, window or door definitely broken. His heart beat was strangely calm, hands firm, no sweat, and shield in front of body with eyes peeking over top as he stepped forward, each step secure, he was not going to be knocked over by a surprise wild charge. He could see the back door completely broken; he checked the rest of the house but didn't find anyone or anything, only some blood where the fool cut himself bringing the door down. Luckily all the noise didn't awaken his mum, it awoke the now live in carer Zara but she knew enough to lock herself in with his mum and had a gun ready.

After informing the calm but battle ready Zara he called Mac to give him a heads up to something possibly going on, soon a few pick-up trucks were dropping off a dozen odd Empire members, they split in half, half to guard the house and half to search the area, they even had a tradie to put in a new front and back door, reinforced this time though. It wasn't being done for him; all of it was because he was one of them and an insult to him is an insult to them all, best to crush any trouble hard and fast before it becomes a stain on their honour.

They searched all night but found no trace of the burglar or burglars, they found a suspicious van and broke in finding all sorts of stolen goods, burglar tools and an assortment of weapons. At dawn they called it quits, Mac left Max and another guard at the house just in case though. It's a mystery as to what happened that night, maybe a gang probe into Empire territory or a fool who broke into wrong house, realised his mistake and quickly scampered off.

 _-What actually happened-_

The mysterious being was doing what he was always doing, watching out for his master. He opened up a portal making sure he was still resting and shifted his master's billy club closer to the bed for quick access; a warrior should always be near his weapons. He would prefer a bladed weapon but his master seemed to favour a club and who was he to criticize his creator. He was proud of the shield that his master had made in that strange school of his, the mysterious being actually understood more then he thought he would from the classes. He could see the shield was subpar to those he preferred to use in his prime so he reached through the portal and imbued it with strength, now it was as strong as steel but still as light as wood.

The being from legend let down his guard as he was lost in thought watching over his resting Lord. He didn't detect the people approaching the house until they had started working on the door, he may have been late to detect them but he was quick to react.

He slipped silently out of a portal behind them, who dares disturb his lord's abode?!

From the look of it not a gang, just 3 black clothed men, 1 working on the door, 1 behind him was keeping watch and another near the bushes taking care of business. Ambushing the one at the back with a perfectly aimed sword thrust he took care of him and slipped the body into a portal leading to where the being was currently living, an abandoned dock warehouse. In only moments a third of the men was gone with no blood or body to be seen and the others none the wiser. He disposed of the other at a distance with an arrow to the soft spot at the back of the head as he turned to talk to the apparent leader working on the door.

As soon as arrow was flying the being was charging at the leader, before the arrowed man had finished falling to the ground the being was there kicking the last remaining man, how dare he try to enter his lord's house. The kick had a big more rage to it then he had anticipated, sending the man flying through it and landing inside the house. Just after he had opened a portal under the other dead man he heard his master awaken and come down the stairs battle ready, it was not yet the time to reveal his presence so he grabbed the near unconscious man and slipped away into a portal leaving no evidence of his ever being there beside from broken door.


End file.
